LHC Restrains Govt from Harassing Turkish Teachers

Lahore (October 16, 2017): The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday restrained the government from harassing the Turk teachers and put their names on ECL.

A single member bench of LHC heard petition seeking directives to government not to deport a Turkish couple allegedly picked up by law enforcement agency personnel.

Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza sought reply from Interior Ministry over the issue by tomorrow. Directing the government not to harass the Turk teachers, the court asked to put their names on ECL till disposal of the instant matter.The court also extended the stay order against the deportation of the Turkish couple.

The court had on September 28 restrained the federal government from deporting the former vice president of the Pak-Turk Schools and his family till the next hearing of a petition filed by one of Kacmaz’s colleagues.

Kacmaz, a former vice president of the Pak-Turk Schools, was reportedly abducted along with his wife and two daughters from their residence in Wapda Town early on September 27.

Kacmaz had been staying in Pakistan with his family on an asylum certificate issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which was valid till November 2017.Ervan had later filed a writ petition pleading that his colleagues had been allegedly abducted by law-enforcement agencies and were likely to be deported. He feared being deported himself.

The lawyer for Kacmaz and his family had also argued in the previous hearing that there was a likelihood that the abducted family would soon be deported. She said the petitioner had filed an application with the police station concerned for the registration of a kidnap case; however, the police were reluctant to take any action.The lawyer had argued the authorities involved in the alleged abduction and possible deportation of the Turkish family had taken the law in their hands.